The National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) is excited to announce that it is teaming up with Pro Football Hall of Famer Harry Carson to help raise public awareness about life-threatening blood clots during Blood Clot Awareness Month in March. Carson, whose illustrious career culminated in a Super Bowl XXI Championship in 1986, has experienced two blood clots in recent years, including a blood clot in his lung.
“It’s a good thing that I took myself to the hospital and didn’t just brush this off,” Carson says. “That’s what a lot of people might do, particularly men or people who are very fit or athletic. Instead, I listened to my body, got the medical attention I needed, and avoided a real crisis or something really much more awful.”
Blood Clots Affect Everyone
As a two-time National Football League (NFL) Linebacker of the Year, Carson is no stranger to pain. He spent 13 seasons playing in the NFL, and was selected by his NFL peers nine times to play in the Pro Bowl. Despite his history as a professional athlete, and his current fitness level, Carson is not immune to blood clots. For Blood Clot Awareness Month 2019, Carson is collaborating with the National Blood Clot Alliance to help raise awareness about blood clots by sharing his personal story with others and demonstrating that dangerous blood clots can happen to anyone.
“Each year, NBCA orchestrates a robust communications effort to coincide with the recognition of Blood Clot Awareness Month in March,” says NBCA’s Director of Communications & Health Marketing Lisa Fullam. “NBCA is honored to have Mr. Carson lend his voice to our work this year, as we know that his story will help us amplify these public education efforts and be met with great enthusiasm among our constituents who also always step up their efforts to build awareness about life-threatening blood clots at this time of year.”
New NBCA e-Magazine
Carson is sharing his personal experience with blood clots in the inaugural issue of NBCA’s new Blood Clot Awareness Month e-magazine. This digital magazine was unveiled today, and can be read here Personal Perspectives: My Blood Clot, My Life. In addition, Carson will share his story on NBCA’s website, as well as across the organization’s social media channels, throughout the month of March.
“I consider myself lucky, because I listened to my body and I survived,” Carson notes. There are others, including some of my contemporaries in the professional sports world, who have not been so lucky. I want everyone to understand these important health issues and the risks that exist.”
Today, Carson, who received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Education before kicking off his professional football career in the NFL, is retired from professional sports, but remains active with numerous business and sports broadcasting initiatives, and also dedicates his time and talent to a number of charitable activities, including important health awareness programs that allow him to exercise his skills as an educator and health advocate.
Blood clots do not discriminate. They can happen to anyone regardless of age, race, gender, or fitness level. Each year in this country, about one million people are affected by blood clots, and about 100,000 of these people will lose their lives, which is greater than the number of deaths due to AIDS, breast cancer, and motor vehicle crashes combined.
Read more about NBCA’s planned Blood Clot Awareness Month activities here: NBCA BCAM 2019, and visit NBCA’s website at www.stoptheclot.org for more information about blood clots.
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